Bugey AOC

The appellation for red, rosé and white wines is located in the western part of the French wine-growing region Savoy. The former VDQS area was called Vin du Bugey until 1989 and was classified as AOP in 2009. The vineyards cover around 450 hectares of vineyards in 65 communes in the Ain department. In the Middle Ages, the area belonged to Burgundy and was an important wine-growing region under the aegis of Roman Catholic monastic orders. The white wine is blended from the varieties Chardonnay, Roussette(Altesse), Aligoté, Mondeuse Blanche, Jacquère, Pinot Gris and Molette. Red wine and rosé are made from Gamay, Pinot Noir, Poulsard and Mondeuse Noire, and a maximum of 20% Chardonnay, Roussette, Aligoté, Mondeuse Blanche, Jacquère, Pinot Gris and Molette. AOP Bugey Mousseux applies to bottle-fermented sparkling wines and AOP Bugey Pétillant to sparkling wines. The AOP Roussette du Bugey area, which is geographically almost identical, applies to white wines from Altesse and Chardonnay. In addition to the simple AOP Bugey, there are three Cru areas with stricter regulations, e.g. regarding maximum yield and must weight:

• Bugey Manicle (still wines): municipalities of Cheignieu-la-Balme and Pugieu
• Bugey Montagnieu (still and sparkling wines): municipalities of Briord, Montagnieu and Seillonnaz
• Bugey Cerdon Méthode ancestrale (sparkling wines): municipalities of Abergement-de-Varey, Bohas-Meyriat-Rignat, Boyeux-Saint-Jérôme, Cerdon, Jujurieux, Mérignat, Poncin, Saint-Alban, Saint-Jean-le-Vieux, and Saint-Martin-du-Mont

Picture: By Rolf Süssbrich - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, Link